Sotheby's 'perfect' 100-carat diamond sells for $22 million

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Photos:Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels 2015

This flawless, 100-carat diamond sold for $22 million, including buyer's premium, at Sotheby's New York's Magnificent Jewels sale on April 21. It's one of only six diamonds over 100 carats to ever be sold at auction.

Hide Caption

1 of 13

Photos:Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels 2015

"Simply put, it has everything you could ever want from a diamond: the classic shape begs to be worn, while the quality puts it in an asset class of its own," said Lisa Hubbard, Chairman of North and South America for Sotheby's International Jewellery Division.

Hide Caption

2 of 13

Photos:Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels 2015

This oval-shaped 22.30 carat diamond ring sold to an online bidder for $3.3 million.

Hide Caption

3 of 13

Photos:Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels 2015

This purple-pink diamond, set between two sapphires, provides a great alternative to the classic white. It sold for $2.4 million.

Hide Caption

4 of 13

Photos:Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels 2015

Kashmir sapphires featured heavily in the lot. This ring from Cartier, which was created around 1915, combines platinum, diamonds and one spectacular sapphire. It sold to an online bidder for $1.9 million.

Hide Caption

5 of 13

Photos:Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels 2015

This gold, platinum and sapphire brooch from Tiffany & Co. was one of many nature-inspired pieces from French designer Jean Schlumberger in the 1960s. The centerpiece is a sapphire of approximately 17 carats. It sold to an online bidder on Tuesday for $1M.

Hide Caption

6 of 13

Photos:Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels 2015

The Spectacular Bid Collection of Harry Winston pieces is inspired by an American racehorse. The Burmese sapphire that is the focal point of this necklace is a nod to the stallion's racing colors. It sold for $430,000 with buyer's premium.

Hide Caption

7 of 13

Photos:Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels 2015

The 3.5-carat Flagler Emerald originally belonged to a wife of Henry Flagler, a 19th-century American industrialist. It fetched $2.8 million at Sotheby's auction on Tuesday.

Hide Caption

8 of 13

Photos:Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels 2015

This Mughal Empire-inspired necklace -- a combination of platinum, emerald, sapphire, lapis and diamond -- was recently part of the Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century exhibition at the Denver Art Museum. Tuesday's buyer paid $2.6 million.

Hide Caption

9 of 13

Photos:Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels 2015

Equally colorful is this Tutti Frutti Cartier Bracelet from the 1920s, which is made of platinum, enamel, emeralds, rubies and diamonds. It sold for $1.63M with buyer's premium.

Hide Caption

10 of 13

Photos:Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels 2015

For those looking to avoid ostentatious jewels altogether, this Jean Després 18 karat gold bracelet from the 1930s is the perfect choice. The new owner paid $125,000.

Hide Caption

11 of 13

Photos:Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels 2015

Other colored diamonds include The Monarch Blue Diamond ring, which has a blue diamond surrounded by six pink ones. It had been expected to sell for up to $4.5M.

Hide Caption

12 of 13

Photos:Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels 2015

The next most valuable diamond at the auction, a pendant on a platinum chain, isn't flawless, but is still notable for its polish, clarity and symmetry. Its pre-auction estimate was between $3.8 and $4.2M.

Hide Caption

13 of 13

(CNN)A "perfect" diamond said to be so large that it draws awe-struck people across a room has sold for $22 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York.

The 100-carat, emerald cut, D color, internally flawless diamond is the largest of its clarity and cut to ever be shown at auction.

"People everywhere have been drawn to it from across the room and they are in awe of its size, particularly when they put it on their hand," said Gary Schuler, the head of Sotheby's jewelery department in New York, before the sale. "They can't believe there's a diamond this pure of such impressive scale."

Only six flawless diamonds over 100 carats have ever been sold at auction, including the one sold on Tuesday, according to Sotheby's. The others include an 118.28 carat oval diamond that sold for $30.6 million at a Sotheby's Hong Kong auction in 2013, a record for a white diamond.

The uncut diamond weighed over 200 carats.

'Highly-important' diamonds

Read More

The massive gem led the house's Magnificent Jewels auction, which included a collection of Kashmir sapphire jewelery and several Art Deco pieces from Cartier. The entire collection, more than 350 pieces, raised more than $65 million -- a record for a jewelry auction at Sotheby's New York.

"It was encouraging to see the impact of private collectors throughout the day, including at the highest end of our sale: eight of our top 10 pieces were purchased by private individuals," Schuler said. Online buyers contributed "heavily" to the final total, he added,

Sotheby's said the demand for "highly-important" diamonds was evident in other lots. The second-highest price of the day was $3.3 million for a 22.30 carat diamond ring.